Portland, Ore. – In front of a packed crowd, the Multnomah University men's basketball team couldn't overcome the mistakes, losing to West Coast Baptist in a dramatic overtime finish, 104-96, on Friday night in Jim Skagen Court.
 
The loss drops the Lion to 1-3 on the season while the Eagles improve to 1-4 overall.
 
Senior guard Blake Updike continued to lead his team in scoring, totaling 27 points while Jordan Paris and Thomas Simien each added 15 points. Paris also finished with 17 rebounds followed by Simien with 10 rebounds.
 
In a game that featured 14 lead changes and six ties, neither team could really gain an edge over the other. West Coast Baptist jumped out to an early 9-2 lead before the Lions battled back to take their first lead 22-21 with just over nine minutes to go in the opening half.
 
A layup by Paris gave MU their largest lead of the opening half, 42-31 with 1:30 left on the clock. Just over a minute later, Updike drained a deep two-point to give the Lions a 44-35 advantage heading into the locker rooms.
 
The earned a 48.3 shooting percentage throughout the game, compared to MU's 42.2 percent and won turnover margin, giving up only 13 while the Lions totaled 24.
 
For the Eagles, Imaan Vicente led his team with 32 point and 12 rebounds while Daniel Foster added 25 points of his own.
 
The Lions started the second half much better, reaching their largest lead of the night just over four minutes into the half, 55-42, after a three-pointer by Ezekiel Martin.
 
West Coast Baptist began their comeback with 15:41 left on the clock, completing a 15-2 run to tie the game 57-57.
 
"West Coast hit some big shots down the stretch and our late turnovers came back to haunt us, said head coach Curt Bickley. "We talked about converting our takeaways into points and we didn't. Great game great crowd I was, happy with that."
 
With a 1:41 left in regulation and the game tied 83-83, Paris knocked down two free throws to give the Lions a one point lead.
 
After a turnover gave the Eagles the ball, Foster found his way to the basketball for a layup, giving his team back the lead. Paris wasn't done yet, as he drove to the basketball, drawing another foul before going 1-for-2 from the line to send the game to overtime.
 
In overtime, the Eagles took over, shooting 83 percent from the field including 2-of-2 from behind the arc. The Lions couldn't find a rhythm, shooting 0-4 from the 3-point line and 42 percent from the field. A final free throw from Daniel gave the Eagles the win 104-96.